It was business as usual for the Northwestern men’s soccer team Thursday in Madison, Wis., in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

They came, they played, they lost — again.

No. 11 Penn State’s (13-3-1, 4-1-1 Big Ten) top players proved too much for the Cats (0-13-3, 0-6) as they remained winless on the season — and winless in their last 35 games.

Gabe Bernstein scored 26:24 into the match off a corner kick, and that first goal ended up being all the ammunition that Penn State would need to beat the Cats.

All-American Ricardo Villar assisted on that goal, bringing his career assist total one behind Penn State’s all-time record. The senior has 31 assists in his career and is a finalist for the Division I player of the year.

The Penn State record is currently held by Chris Kelly, who tallied 32 assists from 1990-93.

Chad Severs, the Nittany Lions’ stand-out freshman, scored their second and final goal of the match less than four minutes later.

Despite well-played defense, the Cats’ offense was far from stellar. NU managed only two shots in the match.

The 21-2 shot total was reminiscent of the Cats previous game against Penn State this season, when they were outshot 28-3.

After the two first half goals, NU was able to hold the Nittany Lions scoreless in the second half.

Freshman goalie Ryan Pederson managed to grab six saves in the match.

The Cats weren’t able to capitalize on either of their two corner kicks in the match, despite coach Tim Lenahan’s season-long focus on set pieces.

This was the second straight year NU was ousted in the first round of the conference tournament. Last season the Cats were crushed by Michigan State, 6-0.

The last NU victory in the Big Ten tournament was also its last win. The Cats beat Wisconsin in the first round in November 1999 — and then went on to lose to Indiana.

That loss to the Hoosiers set off a winless streak that is still alive and well 24 months later.

Because of the loss, NU will now travel to Valparaiso on Sunday for a season-ending match that was originally scheduled to be played on Sept. 12.